literaturefandomcom-20200223-history
Little Red Riding Hood
"Little Red Riding Hood" (French:"Le Petit Chaperon rouge"; German: "Rotkäppchen') is a European fairy tale. Similar stories also exist in African and Asian folklore. Although the story of "Little Red Riding Hood" probably originated many centuries ago, no text for it exists that it is older than the version written by the French author Charles Perrault and included in his 1697 anthology Histoires ou Contes du temps passé (Fairy Tales from Past Times with Morals or Mother Goose Tales). A different version of the story is included in Kinder und Hausmäechen (Children's and Household Tales), the 1812 anthology of German folktales compiled by the Brothers Grimm. The tale as many people in the English-speaking world know it today more closely resembles the Brothers Grimm version than the Charles Perrault one. The story's title character and protagonist is a little girl who gets her name because of the red hooded cape that she usually wears. Little Red Riding Hood goes to visit her sick grandmother. On the way, she encounters a wolf. The wolf wants to eat Little Red Riding Hood but does not do so immediately. He asks the girl where she is going and Little Red Riding Hood tells him. When Little Red Riding Hood arrives at her grandmother's house, the wolf is lying in her grandmother's bed and wearing her grandmother's clothes. Little Red Riding Hood talks to the wolf, believing him to be her grandmother. There have been numerous adaptations of "Little Red Riding Hood" to other media and the story is often referenced in popular culture. Plot Charles Perrault version There is a little village girl who is loved by everyone who sees her. Her mother and grandmother are especially fond of her. Her grandmother gives her a red cape with a hood. It looks so good on the girl that she becomes known as Little Red Riding H Little Red Riding Hood's mother makes a cake. She gives the cake and a pot of butter to the girl and tells her to take them to her grandmother, who has been ill. Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother lives in another village. In order to get there, Little Red Riding Hood has to pass through a forest. In the forest, a wolf comes up to Little Red Riding Hood. He would like to eat her but is unable to so at that moment because there are some woodcutters nearby. The asks the girl where she is going. Not knowing that it is dangerous to talk to wolves, Little Red Riding Hood tells him that she is taking a cake and some butter to her sick grandmother. The wolf asks Little Red Riding Hood where her grandmother lives. She points out her grandmother's house to him. It is the first one in the village and it is just beyond a mill. The wolf says that he will go to Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother's house too. He says that he will take one path and tells Little Red Riding Hood to take a different one. The wolf knows that the path that he has chosen for himself is the shorter one. Little Red Riding Hood also takes some time to get to her grandmother's house because she stops to gather nuts, pick flowers and chase butterflies. The wolf arrives at Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother's house and knocks at the door. The sick old woman asks who is there because she cannot get out of bed. Disguising his voice, the wolf says that he is Little Red Riding Hood. The old woman says that the door is not locked. As soon as he is inside the house, the wolf, who has not eaten for three days, falls on the old woman and eats her. He then gets into her bed. Little Red Riding Hood knocks on the door. Attempting to disguise his voice, the wolf tells her that the door is not locked. The voice sounds somewhat strange to Little Red Riding Hood but she assumes that is because her grandmother has a cold. When Little Red Riding Hood comes inside the house, the wolf hides under the bedclothes. He tells her to put the cake and butter to one side, take off her clothes and get into bed with him. Little Red Riding Hood does as she is told. She then sees the wolf but believes him to be her naked grandmother. Little Red Riding Hood says that the wolf has big legs. The wolf replies that he can run better with them. Little Red Riding Hood says that the wolf has big ears. He answers that he can hear better with them. Little Red Riding Hood says that the wolf has big ears. He responds that he can hear better with them. Little Red Riding Hood says that the wolf has big teeth. The wolf says that he has the big teeth so that he can eat the girl. He falls on Little Red Riding Hood and eat her. Charles Perrault obviously saw the story as a metaphor for a young woman falling victim to a sexual predator. Perrault's version of "Little Red Riding Hood" ends with a verse which says that the moral of the story is that young people, especially pretty young girls, should not talk to everyone who approaches them. Perrault goes on to say that many men who appear to be kind and gentle are really dangerous wolves in disguise. See also *Sound files of public domain audiobboks of "Little Red Riding Hood": **In English (from a 19th century American anthology, an adaptation of Charles Perrault's version in which Little Red Riding Hood is eaten) **In French (translation of Walter Crane's 1896 English adaptation in which Little Red Riding Hood is saved) *Video of a shadow puppet play of "Little Red Riding Hood' filmed in Germany in 2008 *'Video of 'Red Riding Hood'', 1931 animated cartoon from Van Beuren Studios now in the public domain External links *Versions of "Little Red Riding Hood' in French,German and English on Wikisource. *"Little Red Riding Hood' on Sur la Lune Fairy Tales.com. *Public domain audiobooks on YouTube: **Charles Perrault's "Little Red Riding Hood" in French. **Charles Perrault's "Little Red Riding Hood' in English (translation from Andrew Lang's 1889 anthology The Blue Fairy Book). **The Brothers Grimm's "Little Red Riding Hood" in German. **The Brothers Grimm's "Little Red Riding Hood" in English (1912 translation by Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes). *Fully licensed videos from Fandom Video: **Trailer for a version of "Little Red Riding Hood" in American Sign Language. **[[w:c:video:File:Hoodwinked (2005) - Theatrical Trailer|Trailer for the 2005 animated film Hoodwinked.]] **[[w:c:video:File:Red Riding Hood (Uk)|Trailer for the 2011 film Red Riding Hood.]] **[[w:c:video:File:Into The Woods (Trailer 1)|Trailer for the 2014 film Into the Woods.]] Category:Fairy tales Category:Childrens Books Category:Short Stories Category:Animals Category:Fantasy Category:Famous Category:Classic